


Bruised and Black and Lame

by m_egxnnn



Category: Night In The Woods (Video Game)
Genre: Gen, How does one summary, Mae has an Emotion, One-Shot, Sad, this scene makes me Feel Things
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-21
Updated: 2017-03-21
Packaged: 2018-10-08 14:41:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,107
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10389075
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/m_egxnnn/pseuds/m_egxnnn
Summary: In which Mae has a bit of an internal crisis at the realization she just might be inhibiting her friends from getting on with their lives.





	

“Mae, you have to let me change.”

 

_I didn't realize I was stopping you._

 

The thought was immediate; she can't stop it from coming, but she doesn't say it out loud.

 

She doesn't say it out loud, and for that she is glad.

 

She doesn't say it out loud, but she still feels guilty.

 

It is with the guilt that everything comes crashing down in her mind, her heart dropping somewhere inside some gaping abyss.

 

It hadn't occurred to her that maybe she was stopping him from changing. That she was holding him back. Because, of course, Gregg was right. Ever since she'd gotten back, she'd been her old impulsive self again. Committing crimes. Getting into trouble. And she was dragging Gregg down with her.

 

Oh, god, was it really all her fault? _Of course it is, idiot_. When wasn't it her fault? She fucked everything up. That's all she was good for.

 

What kind of friend was she, stopping Gregg and Angus from getting out of this toxic town and following their dreams? From finding somewhere they could call home, somewhere safe, somewhere they could build a life? She was risking everything they were working for.

 

She's silent, her eyes unfocused as she stares out across the parking lot. She needed to let them go. If she cared for them at all, she would leave right now. She was wrecking their lives. They didn't need her anymore. She doubted they even wanted her. They probably only stuck around because they felt sorry for her. So alone, so broken, _so_ _goddamn pitiful_ \- she didn't blame them. Even she didn't want anything to do with herself. It was clear they had grown out of her.

 

That's when it really hits her, pain twisting like a knife in her gut. Her chest is tight, her breathing shallow, her hands cold. She bites the inside of her cheek. They had grown up, and she was stuck in the past. Was she so selfish, so childish, so desperate to pretend things were normal, to cling to the way they used to be, that she was going to keep them trapped here?

 

Angus, sweet, good, Angus, barely registers in the back of her tempestuous mind when he speaks.

 

“Sorry I was rude earlier.”

 

“It's okay,” she replies absently.

 

_Holding them back._ It rings through her mind. _You're only holding them back. You are so selfish. What the fuck kind of monster does this to her own friends?_

 

She gives a tiny shake of her head, which goes unnoticed by Gregg and Angus. She _can't_ keep doing this to them, and as she thinks this, her resolve solidifies. She has to let them go.

 

She thinks back, trying to capture her memories of all the good times and cement them in her brain forever. The air in her lungs escapes in one puff as one particular memory sticks out to her.

 

Her mouth opens, and the words spill from her mouth uninvited.

 

“Remember the time we almost burned down the school?”

 

A fond smile crosses Gregg's lips. “Ha ha, yeah.”

 

“Fireworks. Student Council poster, just- _fwoosh_.”

 

He nods. “God, that was a good night; soaked from the sprinklers, running through the parking lot, laughing our asses off.”

 

She sees it perfectly in her mind. “Ha ha, oh my god, yeah.”

 

She goes quiet again. A small, sad smile crosses her face, and she can't quite look him or Angus in the eye.

 

“That was maybe the best night of my entire life,” she admits softly.

 

“It's one of the all-time greats,” Gregg agrees, not noticing the look on her face as she stares somewhere above his head. “Kids still talk about it. That night lives on, man.”

 

A sigh leaves her almost silently. “We can at least be legends.”

 

“Forever!” Gregg agrees, almost sounding like he was back to his regular, animated self.

 

She looks off to the side and gives laugh that falls completely flat. “Well, tonight was a complete bust.”

 

“I'm sorry,” Angus apologizes again.

 

“Ha ha, stop apologizing, Angus,” she replies lightly, somehow managing to sound like the events and words of the night haven't sent her reeling.

 

Gregg frowns. “I'm sorry, too.”

 

She shakes her head like it's nothing. She will make it be nothing. There is no need for them to feel guilty about doing what's best for them. “It's cool.”

 

Something strikes her just then. “And I have an idea.”

 

“Oh yeah?” Gregg prompts.

 

“You up for one more big crime? You can come this time, Angus. Do a crime with us!”

 

“I. . . okay?”

 

“Aw, cap'n! Cap'n Criminal” Gregg crows.

 

* * *

 

 

Later, as they set the animatronic down on a rock in the woods, she wonders idly if they realize. If they understand what she's doing, and what this means.

 

Gregg is chuckling. “This thing is gonna really freak some kids out!”

 

She lets out a bark of a laugh, and this time it's almost real. “Yeah, dude! They're gonna tell stories about this thing. They'll never know what it is or how it got here.”

 

Angus chews his lip, unsure, as he looks at them. “You guys sure you're okay with it?”

 

“Yeah, this is a good home for it,” Gregg assures him.

 

“Leave it for the kids. Let it be a legend,” Mae adds quietly. 

 

“Hm, yeah,” Gregg nods. She looks at him for a moment that feels long to her, but probably not to anyone else. She lets a smirk fall on her face, though she's not sure if he can even see it in the dark.

 

“Too bad it didn't fall on you!” She taunts.

 

He laughs right along. “Too bad you didn't get your arm caught in the gears!”

 

“Too bad both of you didn't get trapped in the car after a wreck and explode all over the road and have to be scraped up with a snow shovel.”

 

They both stare at Angus, a mixture of shock and pride on their faces.

 

“Nice!” Mae congratulates him.

 

“Decent, Cap'n!”

 

“Heh heh,” Angus chuckles, filled with his own slightly-embarrassed pride.

 

Silence fills the air.

 

“Alright, well. . .” Angus begins almost hesitantly, and Mae wonders again if he knows what she's doing for them.

 

“Mooooving on!” Gregg blurts.

 

“Yep,” she says almost silently.

 

Gregg and Angus turn together and start heading back through the woods to the car.

 

Mae watches them until they disappear through the trees before her gaze lands on the animatronic.

 

“Goodbye,” she murmurs. The word seems to echo in the clearing, but she knows neither of them hear it. Because that's what this is, of course. It's goodbye. She's letting them change.

 

 

**Author's Note:**

> This part of the game always Fucks Me Up. I'm sparing you guys the rant and giving you guys Mae's emotions instead. It's not exactly how I wanted it, but I'm pretty happy with it. Sorry if the tense gets a little weird, I generally don't have issues with tense but I did writing this one. I hope y'all like it! <3


End file.
